Hitachi to Deliver World's Fastest Elevator to China

TOKYO -- Hitachi (IW 1000/33) said Monday it will provide the world's fastest elevators, which can clock speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, to a high-rise building in China.

The lifts will be delivered to the 111-storey, 1,740-foot-tall Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre due to be opened in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in 2016, the electronics and engineering firm said.

They will be able to travel the length of the 440 meter shaft -- from the first to 95th floor -- in a stomach-churning 43 seconds.

Hitachi will install a total of 95 elevators at the tower, including two of the superfast lifts, as well as slower machines such as double-decker lifts, the statement said.

The center will be the tallest building in Guangzhou, complete with office, hotel and residential space.

The world's fastest elevator uses a newly developed permanent magnet motor that achieves both a thin profile and a high output. It is also equipped with a braking system capable of withstanding the terrific heat that might be generated if a malfunction ever develops.

China accounts for about 60% of global demand for elevators and is at the center of fierce competition among the world's elevator makers, a Hitachi official said.

The world's fastest elevator currently in operation is the 60.6 kilometer per hour lift at Taipei 101, in Taiwan's main city, he said.